Framework for providing visual context to www hyperlinks

ABSTRACT

A method and a system for presenting Internet information to a user including providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partially concurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by the at least one hyperlink.

This is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 11/029,995 filed on Jan. 5, 2005 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/708,191 filed on Nov. 8, 2000 (Now U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,904) claims the benefit thereof and incorporates the same by reference.

The nonprovisional application namely application Ser. No. 09/708,191 filed Nov. 8, 2000, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/169,328 filed Dec. 6, 1999 and incorporates the same by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to Internet methodologies and systems generally and more particularly to systems and methodologies for displaying information received over the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following U.S. patents are believed to represent the current state of the art: 6,101,510; 6,016,494; 6,011,537; 5,973,692.

The following disclosures are also believed to be relevant to the subject matter of the present invention:

R. J. Yarger, G. Reese, and T. King “MySQL & mSQL,” O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-434-7;

B. Laurie, and P. Laurie “Apache the Definitive Guide, 2nd edition,” O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-528-9;

C. Musciano, and B. Kennedy “HTML the Definitive Guide, 3rd edition,” O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1998, ISBN 1-56592-492-4;

Libwww http://www.wlorg/Library;

T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, and L. Masinter “Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax”, RFC 2396, August 1998.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide a particularly beneficial methodology and system for displaying information received over the Internet.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for presenting Internet information to a user. The method includes providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partially concurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by said at least one hyperlink.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of said another web page is displayed alongside the visual image of said web page.

Preferably the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of said another web page is displayed within the visual image of said web page. The visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual images of a plurality of other web pages represented by at least one hyperlink are displayed simultaneously along with said visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the web page comprises an HTML page.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method also includes providing a visual image of another web page includes employing a web browser including visualization functionality which interfaces via the Internet with an image server.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to download via the image server from an image database images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page.

Additionally or alternatively the annotated web page includes the web page having alongside it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes providing a visual image of another web page and includes employing a web browser which interfaces via the Internet with a web server including visualization functionality.

Preferably the visualization functionality operates to embed commands to the web browser to download, via an image server, images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page.

Additionally the annotated web page may include the web page having within it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visualization functionality includes generation of a list of hyperlinks from a web page, elimination of links which refer back to a web server sending said web page, determination of whether redirection links are present and if so, visualizing an ultimate destination thereof and visualizing remaining hyperlinks.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visualization functionality may also include receiving a list of hyperlinks, splitting a URL of each hyperlink into URL components including at least a path component and a host component, trimming a path component based on the consideration of finding the most representative image of a given web page and constructing a new URL including a trimmed path component.

There is also thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for generating a web page image database. The method includes receiving a list of URLs corresponding to web pages, the images of which it is desired to download into an image database, operating a multiplicity of downloaders simultaneously by supplying to each downloader one URL at a time, causing each downloader to retrieve from the Internet, a web page and embedded objects corresponding to the URL supplied to it, causing a thumbnail generator to render the web page and causing said thumbnail generator to shrink said rendered image of the web page and supply it to the downloader.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method also includes deleting executable content from the web page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes causing each downloader to retrieve from the Internet, a web page and embedded objects corresponding to the URL supplied to it and causing a thumbnail generator to operate a corresponding web browser to render the web page employ a locally stored copy of said web page and said embedded objects.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes employing a web server for providing said locally stored copy of said web page and of said embedded objects to said web browser.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a system or presenting Internet information to a user including a first functionality providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink and a second functionality operative at least partially concurrently with said first functionality for providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by said at least one hyperlink.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of said another web page is displayed alongside the visual image of said web page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of said another web page is displayed within the visual image of said web page.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual images of a plurality of other web pages represented by at least one hyperlink are displayed simultaneously along with said visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the web page comprises an HTML page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the second functionality comprises third functionality employing a web browser including visualization functionality which interfaces via the Internet with an image server.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to download via the image server from an image database images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page. Additionally or alternatively the annotated web page includes the web page having alongside it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the second functionality comprises fourth functionality employing a web browser which interfaces via the Internet with a web server including visualization functionality.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to embed commands to the web browser to download, via an image server, images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page. Additionally or alternatively the annotated web page includes the web page having within it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visualization functionality includes the generation of a list of hyperlinks from a web page, the elimination of links which refer back to a web server sending said web page, the determination of whether redirection links are present and if so, visualizing an ultimate destination thereof and the visualizing remaining hyperlinks.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visualization functionality includes receiving a list of hyperlinks, splitting a URL of each hyperlink into URL components including at least a path component and a host component, trimming a path component based on the consideration of finding the most representative image of a given web page and constructing a new URL including a trimmed path component.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Additionally or alternatively the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink. Preferably the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Furthermore the visual image of another web page may appear to hover over said hyperlink.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual image of another web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

There is provided in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for generating a web page image database, the system includes at least one downloader receiving one URL at a time and retrieving from the Internet a web page and embedded objects corresponding to the URL received by it and at least one thumbnail generator operative to render the web page, shrink said rendered image of the web page and supply said rendered image to the downloader.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the at least one downloader is operative to delete executable content from the web page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention each downloader retrieves from the Internet, a web page and embedded objects corresponding to the URL received by it and locally stores a copy of said web page and said embedded objects and causes said thumbnail generator to render the web page by employing said locally stored copy of said web page and said embedded objects.

Preferably the system also includes a web server providing said locally stored copy of said web page and of said embedded objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system and methodology for displaying information received over the Internet in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system and methodology for displaying information received over the Internet in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow chart of part of visualization functionality employed in the system and methodology of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of visualization functionality employed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified flow chart of path component trimming functionality employed in the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram illustration of a system for generating an image database useful in the system and methodology of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a controller forming part of the system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a downloader forming part of the system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a process HTML algorithm employed in the downloader of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a thumbnail generator forming part of the system of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a broker forming part of the system of FIG. 6.

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A is a software listing in hexadecimal form of software suitable for providing the visualization functionality of FIG. 1 when installed in accordance with installation instructions set forth hereinbelow;

Appendix B is a software listing in hexadecimal form of software suitable for providing the functionality of FIG. 6 when installed in accordance with installation instructions set forth hereinbelow;

Appendix C is a software listing in hexadecimal form of software suitable for providing the functionality of an image server of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 when installed in accordance with installation instructions set forth hereinbelow.

The foregoing software listing are protected by copyright in the USA and in all other jurisdictions.

Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C are included on Copy 1 and Copy 2 of the CD-Rs attached herewith to the present application. Each CD-R includes the files GIRAFA.hex (Appendix A) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length 3,052,711 bytes; ARANHA.hex (Appendix B) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length 5,498.984 bytes and IMAGE.hex (Appendix C) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length 217,154 bytes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system and methodology for displaying information received over the Internet in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 1, a web browser 100, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, typically resident on a PC, such as a Dell Dimension L733 running Microsoft Windows 98, receives a web page 101, such as an HTML page, over the Internet from a web server 102. The web browser 100 preferably includes visualization functionality 103 which interfaces, typically via the Internet, with an image server 104, such as a Dell Power Edge 2450 running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system.

The image server 104 interfaces with an image database 106, which is preferably a Dell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system which is preferably loaded by using functionality of the type described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 7.

The visualization functionality 103 is operative to download via the image server 104 from the image database 106 images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page 101 and to provide to a user, via the web browser 100, an annotated web page 110, which preferably includes the web page 101 having alongside it images 112 of homepages linked with web page 101.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system and methodology for displaying information received over the Internet in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 2, a web browser 200, typically resident on a PC, such as a Dell Dimension L733 running Microsoft Windows 98, interfaces, typically via the Internet, with a web server 202, such as a Dell Power Edge 2450 running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system.

The web server 202 interfaces with a dynamic page generator 204, such as a P.H.P. 4.0.2, in which is preferably installed a visualization functionality 206, which is described hereinbelow in greater detail. The dynamic page generator 204 interfaces with a database 208, such as a Dell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system.

The web browser 200 preferably interfaces with an image server 210, such as a Dell Power Edge 2450 running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system. The image server 210 interfaces with an image database 212, which is preferably a Dell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system, which is preferably loaded by using functionality of the type described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 7.

The visualization functionality 206 is operative to embed within a dynamically generated web page, such as an HTML page, commands to the web browser 200 to download via the image server 210 from the image database 212 images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in a web page 213 and to provide to a user, via the web browser 200, the web page 213 annotated to include therewithin images 216 of homepages linked therewith.

It is appreciated that either or both of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2 may provide images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in a web page either alongside or within that web page. It is also appreciated that either or both of the embodiments FIGS. 1 and 2 may provide images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in a web page, which images hover either over or alongside the hyperlinks. It is appreciated that the visual image of another web page may function as a hyperlink.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified flow chart of part of visualization functionality employed in the system and methodology of FIG. 1. The flow chart of FIG. 3 illustrates generation of a list of hyperlinks from a web page, such as web page 101 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 received from a web server 102.

As each link is extracted from web page 101, an examination is made in order to eliminate links which refer back to web server 102 and to determine whether redirection links are present. This is typically done by searching for the presence of a string “http://” encoded in the URL, which characterizes a redirection link. In the case of links, which appear to be redirection links, only the ultimate destination is listed In the case of links which do not appear to be redirection links, the links themselves are listed. The resulting list is employed as an input to the functionality of FIG. 4.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, all of the hyperlinks are processed. Alternatively, not all of the hyperlinks need be processed. In such a case, a user may decide which hyperlinks to process.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified flow chart of visualization functionality employed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 4, a list of hyperlinks is received. This list may be derived from a web page such as web page 101 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 using the functionality of FIG. 3 or may be provided by dynamic page generator 204 and obtained via database 208 in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

If hyperlinks are present, the URL of each hyperlink is split into URL components. For example, if the URL of a hyperlink appears as follows:

http://www.microsoft.com:80/windows2000/upgrade/compat/search/computers.asp?page=2&send=1&Order-Sort+by+Company&CN=Dell&PN=&PT=

The components thereof include the following:

Scheme: http Host: www.microsoft.com

Port: 80

Path: /windows2000/upgrade/compat/search/computers.asp Query: page=2&send=1&Order=Sort+by +Company&CN=Dell&PN=&PT=

The path component may be trimmed based on the consideration of finding the most representative image of a given web page. A flow chart illustrating a preferred algorithm for making this determination appears in FIG. 5 and is described hereinbelow.

Thus, in the above example, the trimmed path component appears as follows:

/windows2000/upgrade

Following any trimming of the path component, a new URL is constructed from the scheme, host, port and trimmed path components. This URL is employed for outputting an http query to an image server, such as image server 104 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 or 210 in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

A preferred form of http query in the above example appears as follows:

http://wb1.girafa.com/srv/i? u=http://www.microsoft.com%2fwindows2000%2fupgrade

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified flow chart of path component trimming functionality employed in the embodiment of FIG. 4. As seen in FIG. 5, the path component trimming; functionality comprises receipt of the URL components after splitting thereof, as described hereinabove with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4. Information from the host component of the URL is employed in trimming of the path component of the URL. Each path component comprises a plurality of path segments.

If the last path segment in a path component is a file name, this path segment is removed. Determination whether a path component is a file name is typically carried out by examining the suffix thereof to determine whether it is a known suffix representing a file name.

If the first path segment starts with a “˜”, which typically designates a home directory in a Unix system, the path component is trimmed after that first path segment.

If the host is not www.geocities.com, the path component is trimmed after the second path segment.

If the host is www.geocities.com and any of the first three path segments consists of 4 digits, the path component is trimmed after the first segment that consists of 4 digits.

If the host is www.geocities.com and none of the first three path segments consists of 4 digits, the path component is trimmed after the second segment.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified block diagram illustration of a system for generating an image database useful in the system and methodology of FIGS. 1 and 2. As seen in FIG. 6, a controller 600 receives a list 602 of homepages, the images of which it is desired to download into an image database 604, such as image database 106 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 or image database 212 in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

The controller 600 operates a multiplicity of downloaders 606 simultaneously by supplying to each downloader one URL at a time. Each downloader 606 retrieves from the Internet, the homepage and the embedded objects corresponding to the URL supplied to it by the controller 600 and deletes therefrom executable block content. The resulting output of the downloaders 606 is supplied to a web server 608 via a database 610.

Each downloader 606 establishes a connection with one of a plurality of thumbnail generators 612 via a broker 614. Once this connection has been established; a URL of a locally stored copy of a downloaded homepage, which is stored in database 610, is sent to the thumbnail generator 612 with which the connection has been established.

Each thumbnail generator 612 operates a corresponding web browser 616 to download via web server 608 the locally stored copy of the homepage, which is stored in database 610. The thumbnail generators 612 each receive a rendered image of the homepage from a corresponding web browser 616 and shrink it and supply it to the downloader 606 with which the connection has been established.

It is appreciated that normally the number of downloaders exceeds the number of thumbnail generators by at least an order of magnitude. The broker 614 coordinates interaction between a thumbnail generator and a downloader.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of a controller forming part of the system of FIG. 6. A list of homepages is received from database 602 (FIG. 6). Each homepage is taken from the list and downloaded by a downloader 606 (FIG. 6). The functionality of FIG. 7 ensures that a predetermined number of downloaders operate simultaneously, so long as the list of undownloaded homepages is sufficiently long.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of a downloader forming part of the system of FIG. 6. As seen in FIG. 8, each downloader maintains a download queue for the homepage which the downloader is currently downloading. The download queue includes a list of URLs of objects in the homepage as well as the homepage object that require downloading in order to provide a local copy of the homepage.

For each URL in the download queue, an inquiry is made whether a local copy of the object corresponding thereto already exists. If so, a link to that local copy is created. If not, an attempt is made to download the object. If upon attempting to download the object, the downloader is informed that the object is located on another URL, i.e. by the receipt of redirection reply, that URL is placed in the download queue.

If, the download is successful, the downloaded object is stored in database 610 (FIG. 6) as a local copy. If the downloaded object is an HTML page, then the HTML page is processed, preferably by an algorithm of the type described hereinbelow in FIG. 9.

When the download queue is empty, a connection is established with thumbnail generator 612 (FIG. 6) via broker 614 (FIG. 6). The URL of the local copy of the homepage object is sent to the thumbnail generator 612 and a thumbnail image of the homepage is generated hereby. This thumbnail image is stored in image database 604 (FIG. 6).

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of a process HTML algorithm employed in the downloader of FIG. 8. The HTML object which is downloaded is scanned, the executable content thereof is eliminated and embedded objects therein are recognized.

For each embedded object a decision is made whether to download it. This decision is made based on the nature of the embedded object and the nature of the reference thereto. Generally, images and HTML objects are downloaded.

URLs of objects to be downloaded are placed in the download queue referred to hereinabove in connection with FIG. 8 and the HTML object is modified to refer to the local copies of the objects to be downloaded. References to objects not to be downloaded are eliminated from the HTML object.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of a thumbnail generator, such as thumbnail generator 612, forming part of the system of FIG. 6. Initially, the thumbnail generator initializes a web browser functionality 616 (FIG. 6). When a connection is established to the thumbnail generator 612 from a downloader 606 (FIG. 6) via a broker 614 (FIG. 6), the thumbnail generator 612 receives the URL of the local copy of the homepage.

The web browser navigates to that URL and renders the homepage. A snapshot of the homepage is taken, typically in bitmap form. This snapshot is resized to a desired thumbnail size and is then transmitted via the downloader 606 for storage in image database 604.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of a broker, such as broker 614, forming part of the system of FIG. 6. The broker receives connection requests from both thumbnail generators 612 (FIG. 6) and downloaders 606 (FIG. 6). When simultaneous requests are pending from both a thumbnail generator and a downloader, the broker establishes a direct connection therebetween. When there exists a surplus of connection requests from either thumbnail generators 612 or downloaders 606, queues of such connection requests may be maintained by the broker.

A preferred method for constructing A Framework For Providing Visual Context To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

1. Generate Binary file GIRAFA.hex from the computer listing of Appendix A. 2. Decode GIRAFA.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating Girafa-1-45.exe.

The method for starting the visualization functionality of FIG. 1 with the program in Appendix A includes the following steps:

1. Provide a computer terminal such as an Intel-based Pentium III 800 MHz computer, configured with Microsoft Windows 98 operating system, and Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser. 2. Load the file Girafa-1-45.exe to a temporary directory in the computer terminal provided in step 1, Execute the file Girafa-1-45.exe, and follow the installation instructions. When asked to register, press ‘cancel’. 3. Edit the file Girafa.ini in the installation directory, replacing every occurrence of the string. ‘aranha.girafa.com’ with the hostname of the image server, and every occurrence of the number 8080 with the number 80. 4. Start the Internet Explorer browser. 5. In the Internet Explorer Window select the View Menu, in it select the Explorer Bars sub-menu, and in it choose GirafaBar. 6. Follow the registration procedure.

A further preferred method for constructing A Framework For Providing Visual Context To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

1. Generate Binary file ARANHA.hex from the computer listing of Appendix B. 2. Decode ARANHA.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating aranha.tgz.

The method for providing the functionality of FIG. 6 with the program in Appendix B includes the following steps:

1. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with at least 1 GB of main memory, configured with OpenBSD 2.7 operating system, and MySQL 3.23.25 database, and connected to the Internet. 2. Create the directory /var/www/httpd/collect. 3. Create the directory /data1. 4. In /data1 extract the file aranha.tgz by using the command ‘tar xvfz aranha.tgz’, creating /data1/aranha/aranha.conf, /data1/aranha/capture.zip, /data1/aranha/db.def, /data1/aranha/mod_asis.so, /data1/aranha/bin, /data1/aranha/bin/broker, /data1/aranha/bin/controller, /data1/aranha/bin/downloader, /data1/aranha/bin/downloader.real, and a skeleton image directory /data1/aranha/images. 5. Edit the file /data1/aranha/aranha.conf, replacing the string <SERVER_IP_ADRESS> with the server's IP address, the string <DBUSER> with a MySQL username that have full access to database named DATA, and the string <DBPASSWORD> with the password of that user. 6. Create the MySQL database, and initialize it by running the MySQL script /data1/aranha/db.def. 7. Set the environment variable ARANHA_CONF to /data1/aranha/aranha.conf. 8. Execute, in the background, the program /data1/aranha/bin/broker. 9. Install the apache module mod_asis.so by changing directory to /data1/aranha, and executing the command ‘apxs -a -i mod_asis.so’. 10. Set the handle_asis as the Apache web server handler for files with suffix ‘.y’. 11. Start the Apache web server. 12. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with a display adapter capable of displaying a resolution of 1600×1280×32, such as an ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 128 32 MB PCI, and an ethernet adapter such as a Netgear FA310TX, configured with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP4, connected via Ethernet to the computer server provided in step 1. 13. Transfer the file /data1/aranha/capture.zip to the computer server provided in step 12. 14. Extract capture.zip using a WinZip 7.0 compliant decoder, to the directory c:\appl, creating c:\appl\_ISource.dll, c:\appl\CapturWeb.exe, c:\appl\CaptureWeb.ini, c:\appl\Mfc42d.dll, c:\appl\Mfcn42d.dll, c:\appl\Mfco42d.dll, c:\appl\Msvcrtd.dll, c:\appl\runCaptureWeb.exe. 15. Edit the file c:\appl\CaptureWeb.ini replacing the string <SERVER_IP_ADDRESS> with the IP address of the OpenBSD server as provided by Step 1. 16. Execute the application c:\appl\runCaptureWeb.exe. 17. Create a list of hostnames the thumbnail of their home pages is to be created, and store in the file /tmp/list. 18. Execute the application /data1/aranha/bin/controller to download the thumbnail images of hosts listed in /tmp/list by running the command ‘data1/aranha/bin/controller /tmp/list’.

Another preferred method for constructing A Framework For Providing Visual Context To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

1. Generate Binary file IMAGE.hex from the computer listing of Appendix C. 2. Decode IMAGE.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating image_server.tgz.

The method for providing providing the functionality of an image server of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes the following steps:

1. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with at least 1 GB of main memory, configured with OpenBSD 2.7 operating system, MySQL 3.23.25 database, and an image database created by the software provided in Appendix B, and Connected to the Internet. 2. Extract the binary file of Appendix C using the command ‘tar xvfz image_server.tgz’, creating the directories image_server and image_server/errs, and the files image_server/aranha.conf, image_server/mod_girafa.so, image_server/errs/empty, and image_servers/errs/notFL.gif 3. Change directory to image_server 4. Install the apache module mod_girafa.so by executing the command ‘apxs -a -i mod_girafa.so’ 5. copy the file aranha.conf to /data1/aranha/aranha.conf 6. Create the directory /var/www/htdocs/errs 7. Copy the files errs/empty and errs/notFL.gif to /var/www/htdocs/errs 8. Start the apache web server.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the specification and which are not in the prior art. 

1-40. (canceled)
 41. A method for presenting Internet information to a user comprising: causing the display of a visual image of a first web page containing at least one hyperlink, said web page being defined by code served from a web server; and causing the display of a visual image of a second web page representing said at least one hyperlink, said visual image of a second web page being retrieved from an image server, separate from said web server, that stores and provides said visual image of a second web page.
 42. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed at least partially concurrently with the display of said visual image of a first web page.
 43. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said at least one hyperlink refers to a third web page.
 44. A method according to claim 43 and wherein said second web page is the same as said third web page.
 45. A method according to claim 43 and wherein said second web page is different from said third web page.
 46. A method according to claim 45 and wherein a URL of said second web page is a portion of a URL of said third web page.
 47. A method according to claim 46 and wherein said URL of said second web page is a top level URL of a host of said third web page.
 48. A method according to claim 45 and wherein said second web page is a home page for said third web page.
 49. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is a snapshot of said second web page.
 50. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is in a bitmap form.
 51. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is resized to be smaller than said second web page.
 52. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed within the visual image of said first web page.
 53. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed alongside the visual image of said first web page.
 54. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed alongside said at least one hyperlink.
 55. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed hovering alongside said at least one hyperlink.
 56. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said visual image of a second web page is displayed hovering above said at least one hyperlink.
 57. A method according to claim 41 and wherein the user selects said hyperlink to a second web page.
 58. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said first web page includes commands operable to cause said display of a visual image of a second web page.
 59. A method according to claim 41 and wherein said causing the display of a visual image of a second web page comprises employing a web browser including a visualization functionality to display said visual image of a second web page.
 60. A method of presenting Internet information comprising: receiving, at an image server, a request via the Internet, said request originating from a web browser in connection with said web browser displaying a first web page served from a web server separate from said image server, said first web page including a hyperlink to a second web page; and transmitting, in response, an image of a third web page.
 61. A method according to claim 60 and wherein said third web page is the same as said second web page.
 62. A method according to claim 60 and wherein said third web page is different from said second web page.
 63. A method according to claim 62 and wherein a URL of said third web page is a portion of a URL of said second web page.
 64. A method according to claim 63 and wherein said URL of said third web page is a top level URL of a host of said second web page.
 65. A method according to claim 62 and wherein said third web page is a home page for said second web page.
 66. A method according to claim 60 and wherein said image server employs an image storage for storing images of web pages.
 67. A method according to claim 66 and wherein said image storage comprises a first database containing images of web pages.
 68. A method according to claim 67 and wherein said image storage further comprises a second database containing URLs of web pages the images of which are contained in said first database.
 69. A method according to claim 67 and wherein and wherein said first database stores said images of web pages in a directory structure on a file system.
 70. A method according to claim 68 and wherein said second database is a relational database.
 71. A method according to claim 66 and wherein said image storage is at least partially populated by a plurality of downloaders.
 72. A method according to claim 71 and wherein said plurality of downloaders includes at least three downloaders.
 73. A method according to claim 60 and also comprising: downloading web pages to at least one computer; and rendering said web pages, using said at least one computer, to a predetermined size.
 74. A method according to claim 73 and wherein said predetermined size is smaller than the original size of said web pages.
 75. A method according to claim 66 and also comprising: generating at least one image of a web site; and storing said image of a web site in said image storage, prior to said image server receiving any request for an image of said web site.
 76. A method according to claim 60 and wherein said request includes a URL.
 77. A method according to claim 76 and wherein said URL is a URL of said second web page.
 78. A method according to claim 76 and wherein said URL is not a URL of said second web page.
 79. A method according to claim 76 and wherein said URL is a URL of a home page of said second web page.
 80. A method of presenting Internet information comprising: receiving, at a web server, a request for a first web page; and returning, in response, code defining said first web page, said code including a hyperlink to a second web page and commands operable to retrieve from an image server separate from said web server a visual image of a third web page.
 81. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said third web page is the same as said second web page.
 82. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said third web page is different from said second web page.
 83. A method according to claim 82 and wherein a URL of said third web page is a portion of a URL of said second web page.
 84. A method according to claim 83 and wherein said URL of said third web page is a top level URL of a host of said second web page.
 85. A method according to claim 82 and wherein said third web page is a home page for said second web page.
 86. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said visual image of a third web page is a snapshot of said third web page.
 87. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said visual image of a third web page is in a bitmap form.
 88. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said visual image of a third web page is resized to be smaller than said third web page.
 89. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said visual image of a third web page within said first web page.
 90. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said visual image of a third web page alongside said first web page.
 91. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said visual image of a third web page alongside said hyperlink to a second web page.
 92. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said visual image of a third web page above said hyperlink to a second web.
 93. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to receive user selection of said hyperlink to a second web page.
 94. A method according to claim 80 and wherein said web server comprises a visualization functionality operable to insert said commands into said code.
 95. An Internet information system comprising: a web server; and an image server separate from said web server, said web server serving code defining code defining a first web page including a hyperlink to a second web page, said code including commands operable to retrieve an image of a third web page from said image server, said image of a third web page corresponding to said hyperlink to a second web page.
 96. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said third web page is the same as said second web page.
 97. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said third web page is different from said second web page.
 98. A system according to claim 97 and wherein a URL of said third web page is a portion of a URL of said second web page.
 99. A system according to claim 98 and wherein said URL of said third web page is a top level URL of a host of said second web page.
 100. A system according to claim 97 and wherein said third web page is a home page for said second web page.
 101. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said image of a third web page is a snapshot of said third web page.
 102. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said image of a third web page is in a bitmap form.
 103. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said image of a third web page is resized to be smaller than said third web page.
 104. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said image server employs an image storage for storing images of web pages.
 105. A system according to claim 104 and wherein said image server comprises a first database containing images of web pages.
 106. A system according to claim 105 and wherein said image server further comprises a second database containing URLs of web pages the images of which are contained in said first database.
 107. A system according to claim 105 and wherein said first database stores said images of web pages in a directory structure on a file system.
 108. A system according to claim 106 and wherein said second database is a relational database.
 109. A system according to claim 104 and further comprising a plurality of downloaders.
 110. A system according to claim 109 and wherein said plurality of downloaders includes at least three downloaders.
 111. A system according to claim 104 and further comprising at least one computer that downloads web pages and renders them to a predetermined size.
 112. A system according to claim 111 and wherein said predetermined size is smaller than the original size of said web pages.
 113. A system according claim 95 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said image of a third web page within said first web page.
 114. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said image of a third web page alongside said first web page.
 115. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said image of a third web page alongside said hyperlink to a second web page.
 116. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to display said image of a third web page above said hyperlink to a second web page.
 117. A system according to claim 95 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to receive user selection of said hyperlink to a second web page.
 118. A system according to claim 104, wherein at least one image of a web site is generated and stored in said image storage in advance of said image server receiving a request for an image of said web site, said request having been generated based on code served from said web server.
 119. A system according to claim 104, wherein at least one image of a web site is generated and stored in said image storage in advance of said web server requesting the generation or storage of an image of said web site. 